Charlie Kirk claims liberals 'hunt you down in the streets' after Kyle Rittenhouse protest
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk accused liberals of hunting conservatives down "in the streets" after Kyle Rittenhouse was booed off stage at an event at the University of Memphis.
On his Thursday podcast, Kirk reacted to the protest against Rittenhouse at Wednesday's Turning Point event.
"I mean, we haven't seen this for a little while at Turning Point USA," he said. "We haven't seen this kind of where they hunt you down in the streets, blockade staffers from leaving, and dox the personal information of individual students, but we have experienced very similar instances like this."
"And so this is chilling stuff," he continued. "And the deeper question is, did the university collude with these activists? Because the university has to be neutral. The university is not allowed to favor one activist group over the other."
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Kirk suggested Rittenhouse or Turning Point could sue the University of Memphis.
"It goes to show like, wait, what is the big issue you have with Kyle Rittenhouse exactly?" the podcast host remarked. "And they said, oh, it's BLM protesting it. It said, well, Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself against people that were trying to harm him and he went through a very public, very intense trial and was acquitted on all accounts."
"And so it's really remarkable how they pick their targets and why they pick them," he added. "A lot of people are texting me, they said, wow, thank you so much for hosting Kyle and for the courage to do this... Kyle's a decent and a good person. And he's here to tell his story, and here's to speak out and look at the response he received. And so not to mention the more cruel chants that these activists were hurling towards our students and Kyle yesterday."
Rittenhouse, a teenager from Illinois, became a figure of national attention following events that took place on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. That night, during protests sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, shot three people with an AR-15-style rifle, resulting in two fatalities and one injury.
The incidents led to Rittenhouse facing multiple charges, including homicide for the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and an attempted homicide charge for wounding Gaige Grosskreutz. The trial captured widespread public and media attention, stirring debates on gun rights, vigilantism, and the racial tensions surrounding the protests.
Rittenhouse's defense argued that he acted in self-defense, asserting that he was threatened by the individuals he shot. After a closely followed trial, on November 19, 2021, a jury in Kenosha acquitted Rittenhouse of all charges, finding him not guilty.